confused about lack of progress...
If a person searches out a fitness professional and says they want to achieve XYZ fitness goal, they obviously value that fitness professional’s opinion, otherwise they wouldn't pay them. However, when they provide this person with their best guidance based on past experience (which likely led them in their direction to begin with) as to how to achieve XYZ goal, they fail to complete the necessary tasks needed to get there, and then they get frustrated about not making any progress.
Why is that? It's likely that many people… 1) don't actually know what they want, and/or 2) have no idea the effort it takes to get there.
1) People don’t actually know what they want, they just know they aren’t happy with what they have. The general complaint is they’re carrying around too much weight, and so people think fat-loss is the answer, but it’s not necessarily the goal. Confidence is the goal.
2) People have no idea how much effort it takes to achieve their goal, it’s not that the goal is necessarily difficult to achieve. For example, weight loss is relatively simple — eat less, move more — yet far from easy because it requires change. People don’t change because they need to, they change because they’re inspired.
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If anyone is lacking the clarity about what they want to achieve (in any health endeavor, or even life), I don't think they can be truly inspired. So, I guess the first step is to figure out what any of us are truly after in order to find the inspiration to get there. And, I think that comes down to simply asking why enough times to find out.
319. actions are truer than words
It doesn’t matter what you tell yourself, or the things you espouse to the world. Your actions ultimately show your true values. Your actions reveal what you actually want.
We all say we want certain things — I want to lose weight. I want to write a book. I want to travel the world. I want to start over in a new city. It’s easy to say we want something, and it’s not wrong to want, however if those words aren’t followed up by actions to get you there, then you need to be true to yourself and ask; is this what I really want? Most likely, if you did want that thing, you would have already gotten after it, instead of merely talking about it.
Once we understand this, it’s easy to spot our true priorities. You can ignore what continues to be said and simply focus on your actions. It will show where your values truly lie.
If you say you want to lose weight, yet you continue down the same road, making poor decisions around your nutrition and health, it’s easy to see that you aren’t really in a place where losing weight is of the utmost value to you. If you say you want to write a book, yet fail to sit down and put ideas into words, then stop saying you want to write a book. If you say you want to travel, yet find excuses about it costing too much or not having enough free time, then stop saying you want to travel. If you want to move to a new city so that you can “start over,” yet you take no action towards applying for positions or looking for places to live in that area, then stop saying you want to start over in a new city.
We prioritize what we value. If we’re hungry we eat.
At a certain point, we need to stop lying to ourselves. Get clear on what you value. Stop putting energy into an idea that you have no interest in entertaining with action. Look in the mirror and ask yourself about the actions you consistently do. What are you doing everyday? What can’t you miss out on? What makes you, You? The answers you come up with are the things you truly value, and are what guide your life. All the other “I wants” are just lip service until they become part of what you consistently do. Stop wasting time by saying “I want”, if you really did, you wouldn’t continuously have to tell people because they would already see it in your actions.
health tip: stop running away from your gainz
If you’re choosing cardio over weights, you’re literally running away from your gainz…
There are 4 metabolic ward studies — the gold standard of research — showing statistically significant reductions in resting metabolic rate when overweight subjects performed endurance exercise equivalent to a 300-600 caloric burn per day, for multiple weeks. In other words, when overweight humans do more than an hour of endurance exercise — otherwise known as steady-state cardio — daily, their resting metabolism declines an average of 5-15%.
This isn’t to say that exercise isn’t beneficial but their are better ways if you are trying to lose weight, such as sprinting or resistance training. Both of which will help to build muscle and INCREASE resting metabolic rates.
81. you only get out what you put in
No matter what we do, we always want the best results. The greater the level of effort we place into our chosen activity — whether, in business, writing, weight-loss, or really anything — the better results you will achieve. You can’t expect to become a successful entrepreneur if its just a part-time interest. You can’t expect to master the craft of writing, if you aren’t consistent. You can’t expect to optimally lose weight, if you are half-assing on your diet. How can we expect the best possible outcome with mediocre practices? Very simple, you can’t. It’s important to understand that you don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you always fall to your level of practice. You don’t transition to becoming business owner, a published author, or a vision of health just because you have a certain expectation. If your standard of practice is inferior to the results you want, then you can’t expect more. No one is perfect, but we can choose the level of effort we put into our desired activities. And as the saying goes, you only get out what you put in.
more exercise isn’t the answer
Why do most people choose to exercise? I assume it’s deeper than simply making an attempt at being healthy, and more along the lines of wanting to lose weight to look good naked. That’s fair, I TOO want to look good naked. HOWEVER, I am here to tell you not to fall prey to the simplistic mantra of “calories in, calories out.”
More exercise isn;t the answer in your quest for a sexy body. Multiple studies carried out by health and fitness experts have concluding that exercise doesn’t really result in much weight loss(1,2). A study from Harvard University, reported that exercise alone was not adequate for preventing weight gain in people who are already overweight(3). Furthermore, after 8 weeks of your favorite aerobic exercise, you’ll hit a plateau, where continuous work will not bring you any further progress AND may even cause you to lose muscle while storing more fat.
None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be exercising, but relying on it to get you the body you want without addressing all other aspects of your lifestyle is misguided. The reason why certain exercise protocols — specifically, resistance training — are implemented when it comes to transforming your turnip shaped body into one made for selfies is that it helps RETAIN MUSCLE while cleaning up the diet is largely responsible for the reduction in fat mass. Both are necessary for the best results, but neither will give you the best results on their own.
References in link
Woman Drops 100lbs in 6 Weeks Going Strict Paleo, Eating Only Meat Scavenged from the Pack of Wolves She Runs with and fasting on Sundays!!!
If you’re even mildly paying attention you’ll have come across a headline, book, podcast, commercial or some friendly “advice” from a friend telling you exactly what and when you need to eat (and/or not eat), how to exercise, which supplements to take, how to sleep, etc. All you have to do is follow the protocol and you’ll lose the weight, feel better, cure a disease, be in the best shape of your life, and walk on water. Plenty of success stories, testimonials, google reviews, before and after transformation pictures are easily found to prove if such and such program worked for their fat ass, it can work for you too! And, this shit works.
With a multitude of “proven results” from seemingly contradictory claims, what exactly is working? One programs claims you can eat enough carbs to put an elephant into a coma, while another says that simply walking down the bread isle will knock you out of ketosis. One doctor says you can live with a pack of wolves, eating only meat, while another says anything other than consuming vegetables will give you cancer. One coach says cardio is king (gag!), while another says you should only move if it’s to pick up another weight. Supplement recommendations are all over the place. And, if you aren’t intermittent fasting, you obviously don’t care about your health.
This is all very confusing.
You do your best to take time to consider all the input from everything you’ve read, heard, seen, and try to put together that “perfect” program that works for you. You’re going to have your own success story… Woman Drops 100lbs in 6 Weeks Going Strict Paleo, Eating Only Meat Scavenged from the Pack of Wolves She Runs with and fasting on Sundays!!!
That headline is very appealing… How could that NOT work?
Well, probably because each individual program works for a reason — be it, specific macros, calorie counting, intermittent fasting, cardio or weight regimen, etc. Hobbling together a program you think will work is probably the best way to get lost in the hype of one thing or the other. Soon you’ll find your inclinations for the feral way of life waining. Or that fasting on Sunday’s interrupts your new Zoom drinking party.
So, what’s the point?
As a Personal Trainer (gag again — I fucking hate that classification, someone please ask me why so I can rant), I’ve been privy to working with 100’s of people during my tenure in this industry. All different. All wanting some result they saw on TV or in a magazine. All thinking it’s just a matter of fitting the right pieces in place and you’ll be an IG BootyStar. I’m here to tell you that, YES, it can be that simple, but rarely ever is. Very few people follow through on the simplest of things.
It’s not about willpower. It’s not about sacrifice.
It’s all comes down to figuring out WHY you want to be the END result you seek. Most people I’ve dealt with come to me because they want to lose weight, but being thinner is rarely the reason they want to lose weight. It’s generally much deeper and harder to uncover or admit to themselves, and certainly their trainer. It’s generally something like they want to look good naked so they can be attractive to their spouse who has lost attention, or they got bad results from their doctor and if they don’t change their ways, they’ll die long before they see their kids grow up.
Heavy shit.
So, how do you lose 100 lbs? By being honest with yourself and finding the real reason WHY you want to change your life. Revisit that WHY every time you want to stop or give up.
This is not the last time I’m going to say this… NARRATIVE is FUCKING EVERYTHING. We are the stories we tell ourselves. You want a better life, tell a better story. (More to come on this)